Article

Now Available as Pay-As-You-Go Option on SAP Store — Minimal Investment Required

by Gaurav Jaiswal | SAPinsider, Volume 18, Issue 4

November 9, 2017

The Internet of Things (IoT) offers an opportunity for organizations to digitally transform their business. To help SAP customers get started on this path, SAP offers SAP IoT Application Enablement, express edition, which allows developers to build and pilot IoT applications that can be quickly scaled through a consumption-based pricing model. Learn how the express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement uses a pay-as-you-go approach to enable organizations to harness the power of IoT in their applications.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has created an increasingly connected world in which everyday objects are able to send and receive data, extending the value of investment long after point of purchase. In fact, Gartner predicts that there will be 20 billion of these “things” by the end of 2020. To improve the efficiency and economic value of their investments, businesses are expected to automate technology solutions in every major field via remote access and intelligent interoperability of disparate devices and systems across a data network. Boston Consulting Group predicts that $267 billion will be spent on IoT technologies, products, and services by 2020 to help achieve this goal.

In a world shaped by IoT, organizations are turning to SAP and its partners for guidance. SAP is fully committed to helping its customers harness IoT, proven by its announced plans to invest €2 billion over five years to help business and government entities benefit from the proliferation of sensors, smart devices, and big data that are transforming business. SAP Leonardo, a digital system of innovation that leverages IoT, machine learning, and analytics technology in the cloud, is just the beginning. With new offerings such as SAP IoT Application Enablement, express edition, companies can drive innovation and succeed in the digital economy.

Pilot IoT Projects with Minimal Investment

Available for purchase via SAP Store, the express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement is part of the SAP Leonardo foundation. It allows developers to build and pilot IoT applications that can be quickly scaled through a consumption-based pricing model. Powered by SAP Cloud Platform, the express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement delivers powerful microservices that allow other systems to retrieve an enriched, digital twin of an industrial asset — a dynamic representation that enables companies to better predict machine performance — including business semantics, hierarchy data, product master data, and customer contract documentation. It also bridges the gap between IoT technology and business applications to create new, IoT-enabled services. Geared toward simple projects, the express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement offers all the same features as the standard edition with a simplified, pay-as-you-go pricing model via SAP Store that enables customers to utilize IoT with minimal investment. Its hybrid pricing model — the first for an SAP Leonardo offering — is based on two key components:

Minimum commitment: $5.35 per 1 million data streams for a minimum committed volume of 400 million data streams per month

Pay as you go: $7.49 per 1 million data streams used beyond the minimum committed volume

Harness the Power of IoT

With the express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement, users can create an enhanced digital twin of a business asset that combines sensor data with business information and contextual information, resulting in improved visibility and control. It includes three key classes of functionality: development environment and tools, microservices and smart data storage, and integration with business processes and applications. This allows developers to focus on design instead of coding, helping them create new applications in less time — typically, users can start creating applications in less than a day from when they purchase the product on SAP Store, and then they can quickly and easily connect those applications to their business processes.

Act on insights by connecting business processes and integrating with IoT applications from SAP and its partner ecosystem. “Thing” data can be shared between business partners using a sophisticated role- and object-group-based authorization model.

Figure 1 — SAP IoT Application Enablement, express edition, can build scalable and consistent apps that can be modified to fit a specific use case

Build Scalable IoT Applications

Developers who want to start exploring IoT without making a large, upfront investment now have the option of purchasing the express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement in a pay-as-you-go model — all they need is a credit card. Take, for example, a technology and solution provider serving the construction industry. This provider built an IoT solution using the express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement to gather, measure, and visualize volumes of sensor and metadata related to the usage and geolocation of its machine equipment. After building and piloting a productive IoT solution with the express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement, the provider clearly saw the benefits of using the solution. From there, the provider was able to scale the solution quickly with low commitment through the consumption-based business model as a low-cost bridge between SAP S/4HANA — SAP’s digital core — and its customers’ sensor data.

Since then, the provider’s solution has been extended to include remote equipment monitoring, alerts, and advisory services to reduce operational costs. It has been integrated with the provider’s customer relationship management (CRM) and ERP master data to seamlessly map machines to business information. The express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement powers the application for this customer to provide deep insights at an affordable cost.

Transform Business with IoT

Embedded sensors, processors, software, and connectivity in products, coupled with cloud offerings in which “things” usage data is stored, analyzed, and integrated with other relevant applications, are driving dramatic improvements in product functionality and performance. Massive amounts of new product-usage data enable many of those improvements, and by better monitoring, managing, and controlling equipment, companies can optimize their performance and transform their business.

SAP is here to help customers create end-to-end solutions that leverage IoT to deliver new business value. With solutions like SAP Leonardo and the new express edition of SAP IoT Application Enablement, customers can build IoT applications, enable them with business semantics, and act on insights to truly harness the power of IoT. Learn more at SAPStore.com.